Most people don’t have the luxury of thinking about the season when it comes time to put their home on the market. However, each season the real estate market operates a bit differently, and there are certain things that you must do when listing your home in the autumn. Follow through with these items, and you will sell your home more quickly.

Spruce Up Your Landscape

While you should always keep the landscape on your Kelowna property looking good when your home is on the market, it is especially important in the fall. Piles of leaves scattered across your lawn create a poor initial first impression. Trim around the edges and clean up those leaves to get buyers off the sidewalk and through your door. Make Your Fireplace Prominent

Prospective buyers are drawn to the idea of a warm and cozy fire as the cold weather months approach. If you are lucky enough to have one of these in your home, take the following steps to showcase it:

* Position an area accent rug on the floor directly in front of the fireplace.

* Frame the fireplace with artwork featuring orange, yellow, brown and red, the colors of autumn.

* Place throw pillows near the fireplace for seating.

* Create visual interest by placing candles on the mantel.

These tips will help you draw people into the home and allow them to see it as a place of refuge when the weather outside is bad.

Keep Politics Out Of It

Fall is election time, and many people have political materials on display throughout their home. Since politics tend to be divisive, it’s a great way to turn prospective buyers off. Since political feelings run deep these days, you run the risk of alienating people even if they love your home. Keep the signs in your home neutral so that anyone can imagine themselves living there you want to sell.

Don’t Overdo It

Many people love to decorate their homes to match the seasons. Think pumpkins and scary cats for Halloween or scarecrows and other harvest symbols during the Thanksgiving season. However, while a few of these decorations will make your home more inviting, too many of them will obscure the important details that your buyers need to see to make a decision. You need to give them room to imagine which decorations they would include if they purchased your home. Keep in mind that when your home is on the market, it is about the buyer’s perceptions, and not about you.

It is never a simple thing to sell a home. In any season, a great deal of preparation and planning must be done to be successful. Each season presents its own difficulties, and when you understand them, you can focus on the small things that will dramatically improve your chances of a quick sale. To sum up, your home will sell better when you spruce up your lawn by removing leaf debris, you feature the fireplace, you keep politics outside, and you tone down the fall decorations.

At least we’re not talking about the Chinese stock market anymore. When outside influences that we have no control over become part of a Kelowna real estate negotiation, well, it just isn’t good. As an agricultural based economy there was a time when the price of apples was more important than the price of a barrel of oil but outside influences are often the canary in the coal mine giving many of us pause to worry about a bubble. There I said it…the “B” word.

Housing Bubble

Our version of a housing bubble though might be different than other places. This time last year the average price of a residential home in Kelowna was $545,800 compared to $544,200 this year. It’s certainly been a robust year on the real estate front with over 2,200 homes sold with a Fall market to come. Our advantage here is that even though we’ve become accustomed to having Albertans prop up our housing market, when things slow down there we know that the majority of our homes are sold to locals buying from other locals. The rest is gravy really.

Federal Election

I haven’t heard of anyone putting off buying a home to wait until federal election results are in. With a close three way race that’s too close to call, no one appears to be nervous about what might happen. This is a pleasant surprise. This could change though as election day nears but I somehow doubt it will.

From a historical perspective, 10 years ago the average price of a home here in Kelowna was $346,300 and I’m certain we were worried about outside influences then but things just kept rolling along. As locals we sometimes don’t notice but when we speak with someone who’s just visiting they always remark on how much construction is going on here. Have you walked around downtown lately? With so many condo projects on the go these days outsiders are noticing that our real estate picture is still strong.

Demand for new House In Kelowna will be supported through modest employment and population growth, in addition to continued low mortgage rates. This economic foundation will encourage elevated levels of housing starts in 2015 before dipping modestly next year.

2014 Market Roundup

2014 was a stellar year and saw a total of 4,886 homes change hands here in Kelowna. It was predicted by many that 2015 would be slower in terms of unit sales here but this hasn’t been the case through the first five months of the year. There have been 2,231 home sales so far this year compared to 1,939 this time last year. Our market improved, and is continuing to improve, despite lower energy prices which was expected to negatively impact the Kelowna housing sector. Plain and simple, it just didn’t happen.

We can talk about the Vancouver effect and how out of control prices are sending coastal buyers our way, we can document an increased number of Canadians who invested in Arizona or California and returned because of American tax laws and the value of the dollar but in the end it comes down to interest rates. It always comes down to interest rates here and likely always will. Our area will always be a blue chip community in terms of where people want to settle down and raise their children and with lifetime low interest rates living here continues to be possible.

There are usually 130-170 residential homes for sale In the always popular $300,000 to $400,000 price range in and around Kelowna and this segment of the market is the most competitive for buyers. Multiple offers are common and well priced homes usually sell quickly. There are usually over 400 homes for sale in the $400,000 to $600,000 price range and buyers have a little more choice. These homes are usually bought by move up buyers coming from a condo or townhouse or empty nesters who are downsizing from something bigger. There are usually 300-350 homes for sale in the $600,000 to $900,000 range. These homes are beautiful and often have a lake view. Demand isn’t as fierce as the lower parts of the market but selling these properties isn’t that difficult especially during the Spring, Summer and Fall markets as many out of towners are attracted to these homes.

Downtown Kelowna, BC has a vibrant downtown with many art, theater, boutique shopping and year round fitness options. Come visit our downtown office on Water Street or our kiosk in the lobby of the Delta Grand Hotel.